An online account about the life and times of a Filipino Kali man; centered on Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, discussing the Filipino fighting arts of Kali, Arnis, Escrima from the PTK Manila Pitbulls to PTK Dubai Sicas Famosus then to PTK Sandatahan under the direction of Supreme Grand Tuhon Leo T. Gaje, Jr. where belief in success, good health and life is practised.
Email: sica.famosus [at] yahoo.com

Saturday, July 21, 2012

How many of you have witnessed a lightweight or middleweight boxer hit like a heavyweight? I'm not referring to his power but his speed or lack thereof. Usually it is expected that a lighter fighter is faster and quicker than their heavier counterparts. When it seems that it is not the case, to me the fight tends to be a bit boring wherein I'm just waiting for someone to be knocked out for it to be over. The discussion between speed vs. power is a neverending debate but speed with power is something I think everyone will agree on.

Bruce Lee, father of Jeet Kune Do

The fastest punch is a drill I chanced upon during my Jeet Kune Do days. It is a drill to test your punching speed coming from an on-guard position or a fighting position as some may call it where both your arms are chambered in front of your chest or held up in front of your face. In Kali, since it is not advisable to punch, derivatives of this drill can be found in the form of the fastest knife jab or the fastest slap. I'm sure this drill is also common to other striking arts like Karate and Tang Soo Do. However, I really enjoyed this drill especially when presenting the concept of attack, reaction and counter-reactiveness using a person's response stimuli as basis. Beginner students like children who have absolutely no background in the fighting arts when presented this drill automatically understands how an attack is delivered and how one responds to it. They immediately understand how one's training or lack of it is essential in developing skills that would eventually lead to overcoming their shortcomings.

I believe the drill falls under the concepts of Pekiti-Tirsia in attack-counter-recounter. The drill can be done with both hands. It is a test for both trainee (puncher) and trainer (the person holding the target) alike wherein the trainee will hit the target as fast as possible making sure that he hits it, while the trainer will have to move the target also as fast as possible for the trainee to miss it. It also requires the trainer to have a decent speed and reaction time since he wouldn't want the trainee to develop a false sense of confidence in his performance.

The only drawback I see with the fastest punch drill is that though it develops one's speed, accuracy and timing, it does not address the need for the puncher to vary his range in actual fighting. The puncher assumes that he will be hitting from the same distance all the time. I tried to address this issue on advanced levels by adjusting the distance while punching.

Here is the basic exercise:

Level 1 (speed drill)1) Trainee assumes an on-guard position2) Trainer holds 1 mitt in front at punching range (medium range) of the trainee3) Trainer gives a number of attempts for the trainee to hit the mitt while he moves the mitt out of the way everytime the trainee tries to hit it4) Trainer logs how many successful hits vs. failed attempts

Level 2 (speed + counter reactive drill)1) Trainee assumes an on-guard position2) Trainer holds 2 mitts in front at punching range (medium range) of the trainee3) Trainer gives a number of attempts for the trainee to hit mitt 1 while he moves mitt 1 out of the way everytime the trainee tries to hit it4) As trainer moves mitt 1 out of the way, mitt 2 counter hits the trainee after he has delivered his strike5) Trainee needs to either move out of the way to avoid the hit of mitt 2 or parry mitt 26) Trainer logs how many successful hits vs. failed attempts vs. successful counter hits

In Europe we use a series of drills and exercises, developed from what Grand Tuhon taught me as his approach to training with striking pads.

I classify those exercises under the name "suckerpunch drills". The drills are scenario based and develop problem solving abilities in combination with power and timing.

Training those drills is fun and the skills developed in this training are truly useful in situations when self protection skills are needed. Have I ever mentioned that Grand Tuhon is a martial arts genius? :)